vengroff

Great thread and great pictures. After years of strictly cooking, I'm trying to learn to bake. I've got the Bread Baker's Apprentice and I'm also taking a course at the Culinary Communion in Seattle. Here's last weekend's effort at home--epis. First one loaf of the bread as a whole: I think I could have cut a little deeper and gotten a better shape. And then the crumb: I was pretty happy with this. It had a nice toothsome texture. I used a stone and a pan of boiling water to generate steam. I boiled the water in a kettle and also got the pan blazing hot on the stovetop before putting the boiling water into it and putting it in the oven. I've gotten good results this way even without spraying.

I've never been much of one for flavored chips. I generally prefer nothing but good crisp potatoes and a little salt. But I tried the Tim's wasabi flavor recently and I really liked them. Not as hot as wasabi peas, but solidly flavorful.

I visited Via Tribunali again last night, and if anything the pizza has gotten better. The crust had an irregular char on the underside, plenty of salt, and a pleasant yeastiness. The gluten was nicely developed and gave it a good little spring around the edges. Some might complain that it's not crisp to the point that you can cut a quarter of it off in a slice and pick it up American style, but I've never really thought of that as the point of the Neopolitan style. Folded in half NYC style it would probably work, but I didn't try it. This is knife and fork pizza, and as such is among the best I've had on this continent. We stuck with simple toppings--pomodori, mozzarella di bufala, and funghi. The tiny tomatoes had a nice bright flavor that balanced the char of the crust. We also shared a house salad of barely dressed greens and assorted olives, meats and cheeses. Think antipasti on salad and you'll get the picture. Some others have mentioned having issues with the use of canned mushrooms. My only advice is to give them a chance before you dismiss them--these are not sysco sliced button mushrooms in megabrine from a 5lb can. Italy and Spain both have strong traditions of canning high-quality ingredients with a great deal of care. Think San Marzano tomatoes, artichoke hearts, solid tuna in olive oil, capers, olives, and so on. Fresh is almost always better, but the gap need not be as wide as we are used to in this country. After the pizza we had vin santo and biscotti. There's really no better way to end a meal like this.

Zagi's in Ballard say they are bringing real NY-style pizza to Seattle. I sure hope so.

Same story here. When we moved from a house with a built-in microwave to one without, we assumed we would need to buy one. As the months went by, we never got around to it, but managed to do just fine with steaming veggies and melting butter--the two main uses for the old on--on the stovetop. It's been close to a year now, and at this point there's no way I'd give up the counter space for one.

Hah! I was there at the bar last night too! Arrived just before 8. Quattro Stagione, Stella and Peroni. I would have started with the Peroni if I knew they had it. Clearly the most Italian pizza I've had in Seattle. If you enjoy that style, which I do, it's well worth a visit. I didn't have any of the crust issues that others mentioned. Perhaps they've perfected it with a little more practice. I also couldn't help noticing the imperial (5 litre) of Il Grigio da San Felice sitting on the end of the bar. Santa Claus left one of the 98's at our house this year, and we're looking forward to pulling the cork. Theirs may be more decorative than anything else, since it's sitting on the bar instead of in the cellar, but if I was there with a large enough party I'd at least attempt to order it. Perhaps it could even be drunk as part of an unofficial meeting of a world wide web-based culinary society in honor of a visit of one of its members from a distant city with a minimum of two weeks' notice. -D

I got an email from OpenTable about Valentine's tables. Here's the link to search what they've got.

Stopped in last night and had some exceptional treats, and one or two disappointments, but overall a great time. There were three particular shining stars: the caviar, cream, and roesti potatoes; the squab with smoky bacon; and the chaource cheese. The potatoes had a crisp exterior which gave way to a center filled with potato slivers the size and consistency of perfectly al dente pasta. The salty caviar and rich cream melting on top complemented them perfectly. The squab was crispy and salty on the outside, with a warm but rare center, served atop diced super smoky bacon, onions, and crosnes (tiny little tubers that I have never had before). The chaource was a well-aged sample so runny it had to be served in a tiny little bowl of its own, with just a bit of honey and honecomb on the side. For my tastes, this was one of the most perfectly handles servings of cheese I've had in Seattle. It was right at the tipping point between creamy and pungent, with neither side overwhelming the other. Aside from these we also enjoyed carmelized salsify and a special white bean, clam and chorizo soup. Except for the beans themselves, the soup was excellent, with a rich stock and tasty ingredients--the beans, however, were too underdone. Hedgehog mushrooms were the other disappointment. They were very much on the watery side, as if not enough cooking time had been devoted to expelling their natural moisture, or perhaps they were too crowded in the pan and steamed rather than pan roasted. I like the lighting and the general ambiance a lot, and there is some exceptional food here, even if it isn't uniformly so. And I definitely have to dig deeper into the cheese list next time. One other minor nit to pick is that they don't have stemware with large enough bowls for some of the more serious reds they offer. Two men at a nearby table actually resorted to decanting theirs into brandy snifters.

No, there was no hint of shell. I don't know whether the shell might have been baked before filling. Of course, the top fourth of it was removed (there are tools for doing exactly that). I have a hunch the custard might have been filled in the shell first, then steamed. ← I have a Zyliss Egg Topper which generally works quite well. I mostly use it for soft-boiled eggs, but it's also good for anything you want to present in an egg shell. Sometimes you get a few shards, but they are easy to see and remove before presentation.

Were it not for a conflict, I would be in attendence. But since I can't make it I decided to get in the spirit by making a quick dish of Cod with Basque Wine Sauce (page 88). I modified the recipe just a bit based on availability of ingredients. Instead of cod, I used halibut, and instead of cockles I used manila clams. I guess that makes it a Pacific Northwest variant of the dish. I also added more peas than the recipe specified, at the request of my dinnermate and pea fanatic. I didn't have any Spanish white at home, so I used Regnard '01 Macon Lugny. It's a stunning value white Burgundy that Esquin has been selling for under $10 a bottle. I'm going to have to get another case if they still have any left next time I'm in. The recipe is in the fast section of the magazine, and it certainly was. I doubt 10 minutes elapsed from the moment the grocery bag landed on the counter until dinner was served. Anyway, the final result is pictured below. Good luck with the get-together. It sounds like its going to be fantastic. P.S. Here's the final final result. It didn't last long after serving.

A quiet dinner at home, most likely. Valentine's day is a tough time to find a good dinner out. It may be easier than mother's day brunch, but not by much.

Damn, can't make the 22nd. Sounds like it's going to be great.

Depending on where you live, renting climate-controlled wine storage space may be more cost effective and flexible than large-scale in-home storage. When I last did the math a 20 case standalone storage unit cost about the same as eight years of rent on a comparable amount of space at a local wine merchant. As your collection grows, you can easily add more rented space, but only ever pay for what you are currently using. Of course with rented storage you can't just grab any bottle you want at a moment's notice. Depending on your own personal consumption habits that might be good or bad.

So you think you can post on this thread without reporting on your New Year's Eve dinner? ← OK, from memory here. Apologies if there are inaccuracies. New Year's eve was actually an interesting mix. It began with a couple of very traditional NYE courses, then settled into some favorite motifs from the preceding year. First there was a tower of cold-smoked salmon on a round of toasted brioche with creme fraiche and topped off with spoonbill caviar. Next, foie with cheries. I thought both of these initial dishes were well executed, but as I said, they were more traditional than what I normally expect at Union. We had their New Mexican sparkler with these. Things transitioned quickly, however, to more typical Stowell fare, including a lobster salad with mango and vanilla oil, followed by a seared sea scallop in a smooth turnip soup with oregon truffles. Both the lobster and the scallop were perfectly tender, just cooked through but not a moment past. We had a Domain Zind Gewertz with these two courses. Next, Fife L'attitude 39 with beef (strip loin?) and artichokes--meduim rare and exceptionally beefy. This was probably my second favorite after the soup. We finished the Fife with a slice of Pierre Robert, thin slices of rasin walnut bread, and some mixed greens in place of the frisee often served with the cheese course. First dessert course was a (poached?) kiwi with goat yogurt sorbet followed by a midnite champagne toast which all the staff joined in. Finally, we had our first dish of the new year, an exceptionally rich demi-tasse of chocolate espresso pot-de-creme with a Hungarian Tokai. All in all it was a great evening of food, company, and celebration. Not a typical night at Union, at least for me, but extremely enjoyable nonetheless.

On January 16th Union will be hosting a wine dinner with Beaux Freres Pinot Noir from Oregon. In addition to a vertical of their highly regarded pinots, there will be at least one twist--a pinot noir rosé. I'm not sure what to expect from the rosé, but it should be fun. And of course Ethan's food should be spectacular as always. I don't have details on the menu or pricing, but if you are interested I recommend giving them a call.

Wow, that trumps any of the various resolutions I was considering. Congratulations and best of luck.

This discussion pops up regularly all over the egullet forums. Once again the bottom line is that those who reserve one or multiple tables then don't show or cancel with a reasonable amount of notice ruin the experience for both the restaurants and other diners. Just to add another anecdote, a chef friend of mine recently took a reservation for 12 at his chef's table. The party consisted of a well known TV star and his entourage. They were going to be in town, had read about his place, and wanted a full tasting menu. He normally does about 20 tastings a night, so he ordered extra ingredients to accomodate them. Twenty minutes before their booked time, they called and cancelled. He hadn't taken a credit card deposit, so he had essentially no recourse.

Strange. I've always found their espresso drinks insufficiently hot. I buy their pastry, but I usually get it to go and then make coffee at home.

Amazon.com has set up a service on the home page where customers can donate to the relief effort with one click. 100% of everything collected will go to the Red Cross. See http://www.amazon.com for details.

Don and Joe usually have duck breasts in their freezer, so I would bet they have legs too. With a couple of days notice they can get just about anything, possibly including a nice big jar of duck fat, so I'd give them a call. Their number is (206) 682-7670.

After your description of Christmas I'm looking forward to New Years eve at Union more than ever.

The family wanted a strictly traditional turkey dinner. I was leaning towards goose, but I didn't make arrangements in advance and on Christmas eve morning the only ones I could find were $80+ at whole foods and frozen rock solid. Good luck to anyone who bought one of those and expected it to defrost in time. so turkey it was--a 12lb free-range bird. Here's the bird in a brine of 1c salt, 1/2c brown sugar per gallon, plus the miscellanea you see floating on top. A small igloo cooler was the perfect size for brining it overnight while preserving precious refrigerator space. Christmas morning we had savory swirls, which we found in a Texas cookbook and have been making for years. It's biscuit dough rolled with chorizo, green chilies and cheese. And fruit salad with a pineapple Santa flew in from Hawaii. Later in the day, the turkey was roasted to a crisp golden brown.

I stopped by for lunch last week and they were closed. The sign in the door simply said, "Closed," with no indication of when they would reopen for business.

There's Michigan Street down by Boeing Field, which might not be a bad spot for a food truck during breakfast and lunch hours.

I've never really purchased wine in magnums before, both because they are less widely available than bottles and because I didn't really have facilities appropriate for long-term storage. Neither of those problems exist any more, so I'm thinking of taking the plunge. OK, who am I kidding, I've already started. But at this point my large format collection still numbers in the single digits so it's not to late to turn back. Some specific questions: 1. Magnums are widely said to age more slowly than bottles. How much more slowly? E.g. if a wine needs 5 years in a bottle, how long does it need in a magnum? 6, 7, 10 years? Is there even a rule of thumb like this, or does it vary by type and region? 2. Are there significant differences in the aging process other than time? I.e. will wine in a magnum go through phases, for better or for worse, that the same wine in a bottle will not? Or is the progression exactly the same, only slower? 3. How much of a premium should I expect to pay? Is 10-20% typical? When I look around it seems like prices are all over the map, from super-inflated to down to just a bit less than two bottles. Presumably the market is thin, so spreads are wide. 4. Independent of price, how much of the market is available in magnums at all? I picked up the ones I have while visiting wineries in the Yakima valley and Red Mountain region. I'd say about half of what we tasted was available in magnums. It's much thinner in most wine shops, but that's presumably because they choose not to stock it, not because it can't be ordered. 5. I've read that the magnum is the ideal format for Champagne. Is this true, and if so, why? Does is apply to sparlking wine in general, or just methode champagnoise? In summary, am I wasting my time and money if I start hunting around for magnums and then waiting for them to mature, or is it likely to be worth the effort? If there are other issues I should be aware of, by all means please point them out. Thanks in advance for your advice.